Published between 1982 and 1995
In the animation department the story is divided up scene-by-scene and distributed among the character animators. The animators’ task is to bring movement, personality and life to the character he is drawing. Those of you who are mathematically inclined might like to work out how many drawings there are in the average ninety-minute feature. Whatever … Read more
The studio trains their own animators and this could take anything from three to five years. Another five years would generally be needed to reach a proficient standard as a directing animator. The first few years would be considered to be an apprentiship. An animator progresses up the ladder from in-between artist to becoming a … Read more
Although each second of film consists of twenty-four frames, in some cases if the action is very fast the animation can be shot on ‘twos’, that is two frames per drawing or eel set-up. Sometimes a drawing might be shot for ten, twenty or more frames to give the effect of a character pausing or … Read more
The latest film to be released in the U.S.A., All Dogs go to Heaven, opened in November 1989 and grossed $14.4 million in its first three weeks. It tells the tale of a roguish but lovable dog, his sidekick and a girl who can speak to animals, enough said. The film features the voice of … Read more
Animator. Summer 1989. Issue number 25. Front cover illustration: Loud Lucy from the Odd Bodd Family, a segment of the Round the Bend TV series animated by Catalyst Pictures Ltd. See page 24.
Animation Festival Bristol ’89 The world of animation will focus on Bristol for one week this year when The International Animation Festival takes place in the historic English shipping port from 31 October to 5 November 1989. The biennial Festival is Britain’s most prestigious showcase and the only major non-competitive event on the world-wide animation … Read more
The Hippodrome Show Rubicon Studios were teamed up again with Bernard Allum of The Graphics Department to produce a title sequence for Thames TV’s variety show, recorded live from Peter Stringfellow’s top London nightspot, The Hippodrome. Rubicon’s adventurous animation was combined with Bernard Allum’s night-time metropolis under a computer rostrum camera and further enhanced using … Read more
Bluth commercials Sullivan Bluth Studios, as part of its venture into TV commercials production, has recently completed three new Irish commissions: Hacks Lozenges (Wardell Roberts) through Hunter Advertising, Howards Flour through Davitt & Partners, and Bord Gais through Irish International Advertising and Marketing. In the past year, Sulliyan Bluth’s commercials production has turned over a … Read more
Charlie Chalk Charlie Chalk is a new series by Ivor Wood, creator of Postman Pat. There are thirteen episodes of stop-frame animation which are gentle and humorous, set to appeal to young audiences worldwide. It was broadcast on BBC 1 earlier this year. The happy-go-lucky clown, Charlie Chalk, sets off on a fishing trip in … Read more
One of the Nine Old Men of Disney Animation, Eric Larson, died on 25th October 1988 at the age of 83. He joined the Studio in 1933 and worked there all his life until ill-health forced him to retire soon after I had the pleasure of meeting him in the summer of 1985. He invited … Read more
For one week at the end of May the beautiful lakeside resort of Annecy in the Haute-Savoie region of France was taken over by a hoard of animators, animation enthusiasts and salesmen for the biennial animation festival. Report by David Jefferson. This was my third visit to the festival and each time it gets bigger. … Read more
Filmation has closed its doors for possibly the last time. The studio, known for such series as the first tv Superman cartoons, Fat Albert and He-Man, gave employees one hour to gather their personal belongings and leave in early February. Reasons for the sudden action is said to be related to the recent scale of … Read more
Set by Gary Timmons 1. Which character said, “I just thought I’d mention in passing, I’ve always wanted a sparkly of my very own.”? 2. Good, Truth and Beauty are characters from which Richard Williams film? 3. Who was the producer for MGM’s Tom and Jerry cartoons between 1940 and 1955? 4. What town do … Read more
By Paul Thomas. Somewhere in the womb… Suddenly, somewhere, somehow, In the land of D.N.A. Within the egg, x and y, The chromosomes did play. A gene of animation, Began its multiplication. 8 o’clock a.m. arrival… Arriving as I did, In the swinging 60s, fashion, hit parade. The building bricks of what was to be, … Read more
The Disney Studio Story By Richard Holliss and Brian Sibley. Octopus Books 1988. Review by Robin Allan. This is a welcome addition to the growing number of books on animation in general, and on the phenomenon that was – and still is -Walt Disney in particular. It complements John Grant’s Encyclopedia of Walt Disney’s Characters, … Read more
The Disney Studio Story By Richard Holliss and Brian Sibley. Octopus Books 1988. Review by David Williams. The standard pattern of the Octopus Studio Histories has been to have an introductory essay, a full listing of films produced with a brief description of each, (and where possible a still or stills), and some further essays … Read more
Experimental Animation: Origins of a New Art Revised edition by Robert Russett and Cecile Starr, published by De Capo Press, New York Review by Pat Webb. Robert Russett and Cecile Starr begin their well researched anthology with a concise introduction to this ever-growing relationship between animation and art before they dip into the archives for … Read more
By Ken Clark Publicity for the medium is welcomed whenever it promotes new work or adds to general public awareness, but I have never subscribed to the idea that tricks of the trade should be continually on show – a good magician never reveals his secrets. However, that is not to say the occasional tantalising … Read more
MOMI The Museum of the Moving Image received the Royal seal of approval when Prince Charles attended the opening ceremony on Thursday 15th September 1988. There was much to recommend, particularly the way in which those responsible had succeeded in squeezing a pint into a half-pint pot. Tucked under Waterloo Bridge this seemingly impossible site … Read more
The point I am making is that animation suffers from a lack of exposure. As one man remarked after seeing Halas & Batchelor’s retrospective: “Why on earth haven’t we been given an opportunity of seeing these films before this moment?” I suggest an answer may be found in the video cassette. A start has been … Read more
This article is based on a workshop talk given by Paul Driessen at the Stuttgart Animation Festival ‘88. When animators are engaged on commercial work or series work, they often have to produce a set amount of footage each day to keep within the budget. It doesn’t matter so much what the quality is like … Read more
They cover the West Coast of America all the way up to Vancouver and it seems to work there as well. They spend money on promotion but not so much on people. The animators are always complaining they are a little slow in paying. Television is committed to set times: one-hour TV specials and so … Read more
A mistake some people make is to think they can do every aspect of film production on their own. They should realise some people are better at story writing rather than animation. Or good animators are bad story writers, or don’t know anything about sound, or even don’t recognise bad sound, bad story writing or … Read more
The world of animation has been severely handicapped because it has never been classified according to its nature, its character and its type as so many other art movements have. This lack of classification has, unfortunately, contributed to the fact that the general public still thinks all animation is of the comic type which, as … Read more
Ray Fields was principal lecturer in AV studies at Liverpool Polytechnic. He gave the following workshop lecture to a group of international students at the Stuttgart Animation Festival 1988. I would like to concentrate on education – visual education, education and movement. I intend to examine a number of apparent opposites. My theme is the … Read more
Students are quite naturally interested in how they are going to earn their money, so they need certain training. In the British educational system, government is now demanding that the students should be trained in specialisation almost immediately. Obviously philistine governments don’t understand about aspects of intuition or sensibilities or feeling. They want the goods, … Read more
Catalyst Pictures Ltd was formed in June 1985 by Nik Lever, Caroline Titley and Paul Miller to produce TV commercials and corporate films, particularly animation. Report by David Jefferson. All three directors previously worked for Orchid Productions Ltd in Manchester – the largest independent animation/live action house outside London. They left in order to concentrate … Read more
DJ: Did you manage to hold the focus between the cutouts and the background? NL: On a wide shot, yes. On a tight shot, no, but that worked in our favour because it is easier to read an image when the background is out of focus, and we were quite pleased with that. We shot … Read more
DJ: Can you tell me about the Irish Bank Commercial. It looks to me as if you used a combination of 3D animation and cel animation. NL: The action was painted on cels, we achieved the appearance of depth by the use of multi-plane. We have been experimenting with multi-plane to overcome the inherent problems. … Read more
DJ: How does the amount of work compare with a cel film? NL: The thing about cel is it can be used in so many ways. You can have limited animation where a body may be static while the head moves. When you do that eel is very quick and crayoning would be phenomenally longer, … Read more
DJ: What do you take along to the dubbing studio in the way of pre-recorded sound? NL: In this particular instance they had all the music and all the voices and edits of the shows that had already been done. They must have spent the first day or so recording sound effects because they had … Read more
DJ: What about transferring for the American market as their television runs at sixty-fields-per second whilst in Britain it is fifty? NL: The system used is called standards conversion. Every fourth field is seen twice for NTSC. DJ: When American programmes are transferred for British television you often see strobing on fast movements. NL: That … Read more
Dale Hemenway wrote an article in Animator number 24 telling how some of his cartoon sequences came to be shown on the BBC programme ‘Hartbeat’. The programme was hosted by Tony Hart, who had a unique approach to art. He featured many different styles of animation produced by young, freelance or independent animators. Dale wrote … Read more
Animator. Winter 1988. Issue number 24. Front cover illustration: Bob Hoskins with human Toon Jessica Rabbit, Roger Rabbit’s luscious wife in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. © 1988 Touchstone Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. Printed in Animator Issue 24 (Winter 1988)
By Dale Hemenway The BBC programme ‘Hartbeat’ developed from a programme that began two decades ago called ‘Vision On’. I used to return home from school and switch on the TV to be fascinated, not only by Tony Hart’s unique approach to art, but also by the many different styles of animation shown. Of course, … Read more
Brian Sibley reviews the Disney-Speilberg smash-hit, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Roger Rabbit is an anarchist. Probably because he’s a Toon and comes from Toontown, where all the tedious restraints of real life – from gravity to commonsense – are non-existent, and where the only laws are those of mayhem and madness… Hollywood, 1947: in a … Read more
More significantly – since it is the probable reason for Roger’s success – this experiment in combining film techniques is founded in a stylishly funny conceit. Toons, it seems, are not drawn characters who owe their existence to some pencil-pushing Olympian, they are another race of beings who sell their remarkable talents to the cartoon … Read more
The script by Jeffery Price and Peter Seaman (from Gary K Woolf s book Who Censored Roger Rabbit?) is crammed with gags, puns and movie land references: ‘Is that a rabbit in your pocket?’ asks Eddie’s girlfriend, Dolores, ‘Or are you just pleased to see me?’ For the animation-buff there is not only the delight … Read more
Jeremy Clarke talks to Richard Williams, Director of Animation on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. RICHARD WILLIAMS: The initial feeling I had about the picture was that it would look a bit gimmicky. The problem was how to ensure the cartoons didn’t make the live action look false, and that the live action people didn’t make … Read more
Then when I saw it, we all fell around and started to scream because it worked at 100%. I had never before worked on anything where you were trying a new innovative kind of system that worked first time. You always have some bugs to get out, but this Spitfire was perfect first time. It … Read more